Russian brain drain as young people look west

Euro News ^ | 11/29/2011

[MinorityRepublican]

In happier times Russian university students could expect a bright future as part of the country’s elite. Instead the country is experiencing a serious brain drain as graduates head abroad, and many other young people dream of doing so: 40 percent, according to one survey.

It is of serious concern to the authorities in the run-up to parliamentary elections on December 4.

One first year maths student at Moscow State University said if she continued her studies she would probably go abroad, because she did not believe the government was putting enough money into science development.

The loss of more new talent would be devastating for Russia, already reliant on an older generation of specialists for its scientific research.

Unlike previous waves of emigration, this one has deep political undercurrents, according to Dmitry Muratov, editor of the opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta.

“In the 1970s there was Jewish emigration out of the Soviet Union, and then lots of people left at the beginning of the 1990s. That was emigration for sausages and blue jeans. Now, go anywhere in Moscow – there are sausages and blue jeans everywhere – you can find anything you want, but there’s still gigantic emigration because people are leaving for a breath of fresh air. They’re leaving over values,” he said.

Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party is expected to win the general election. Putin himself, now prime minister, is expected to recapture the presidency next year.

Analysts warn of stagnation and a continuing exodus. Many trying to leave are well-educated with stable jobs, among them Alexander Shishenin, a manager at Russia’s largest search engine company and email service, Mail.ru.

[Niuhuru]

It is interesting, how Russia’s brand of Communism was highly practical, never scrimping on funding for the sciences and scientists.